BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College will host several events commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 19.
“A Celebration of the Life and Work of Martin Luther King Jr.” will precede by a day the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, giving participants broad historical context to the civil rights movement.
Bowdoin’s celebration will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the Bowdoin Chapel. The event “The March Continues to Realize the Dream” will feature an evening of readings and music designed to highlight ways citizens can initiate change in response to Dr. King’s call for social change. The discussion will include contemporary issues, including citizen response to global injustices, war and poverty.
A video of King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech will be shown, as well as readings from King’s 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
The event will include musical interludes and the singing of civil rights anthems.
The celebration is free and open to the public.
Bowdoin will also hold screenings of “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years” in the Morrell Lounge of the David Saul Smith Union building between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Originally released in 1987, the six-part video series has been widely hailed as the defining documentary of the civil rights movement.
The showing is open and free to the public.
For children, Bowdoin will hold its annual “Children’s Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.” between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Lancaster Lounge at Moulton Union. Children’s book authors Rohan Henry (“The Perfect Gift”) and Charlotte Agell (“Dancing Feet, I Wear Long Green Hair in the Summer”) will be on hand for storytelling, singing, and crafts.
The program is geared toward children ages 5 and up, and is open to the public. Admission is free. Refreshments will be served, and copies the authors’ books will be available for purchase.
Finally, those wishing to hear King’s “I Have a Dream” speech may do so from the convenience of their computers by visiting bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1bowdoincampus/001804.shtml.

Steve Mistler can be reached at 373-9060 ext. 123 or smistler@theforecaster.net.


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